On the verges of the hymnbook

A quest for a unified set of criteria for hymns entering official Lutheran hymnals

Abstract

The article relies on a doctoral research exploring the underlying criteria behind Lutheran hymnbook editing processes on the global and local level. Canonised collections consist of several layers from core hymns (Kernlieder) up until the margin. Via concrete examples, the author strives to decipher the boundaries between hymns becoming part of an official collection and apocryphal or deuterocanonical hymns in the given circumstances. In summary, a set of universally applicable criteria for canonical hymn selection process is offered for consideration.